So You Want To Buy A New Luxury Condo In Miami

Author: FrankKasper Total views: 3 Word Count: 477

If you're thinking about buying one of those new condominiums in Miami then you better do your homework like your life depends on it. I know it would be really cool to be living in a new luxury high rise condo in Miami close to South Beach but here's some things that you may want to consider before you sign a contract.

Yes, I know there are thousands of new vacant condos in the downtown Miami area that have bay, ocean or city views with roof top pools and state of the art fitness facilities just waiting for you. But have you asked yourself why are all these condos sitting vacant?

Well I'm going to share with you some of the reasons these units are vacant and why you may be making a huge financial mistake if you decide to buy one of these units.

In 2004 thousands of new high rise condos in downtown Miami went under construction. Lots of investors signed pre-construction contracts on these units. They thought they would be able to flip them for huge profits. These units were scheduled to be finished in mid to late 2005 which just happened to be the time the real estate market came to a halt. Most of these investors that couldn't flip them or move into them walked away from their contracts and deposits.

So this one little fact left thousands of vacant condos with builders wondering how they could sell them. They started offering incentives like appliance upgrades, no closing costs or free maintenance fees for one year. Well this didn't work so they started slashing prices to the point where I don't think they were making any profits at all. The builders just wanted to get out of their projects and sell their units.

So fast forward to June 23, 2008 and there are 14,742 active listings in the downtown/beach areas in Miami and 4,591 of these units are vacant per the Multiple Listing Service.

So is it time to snatch these units up?

Here's some of the reasons why I don't think its time;

1. With this many units on the market values are going to continue to decline.

2. Financing may be impossible to obtain in some of these condo projects.

3. The monthly/yearly maintenance fees may be going up dramatically due to the number of vancant units.

4. Special assessments may be ongoing due to the number of vacant units.

5. There may be to many rentals in the project to obtain financing.

6. There may be a substantial number of foreclosures in the building which may prohibit financing.

I hope this information has opened your eyes to some of the pitfalls you may face. You've heard the old saying "Buyer Beware" well this couldn't be more true now and especially if you want to buy in Miami.

To get property information in Miami you can go to www.miamidade.gov and click on property search.

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About the Author

About the author: Frank Kasper has retired after 21 years as an appraiser/real estate agent and now is an investor. To receive a free report and see what Frank uses when investing go to real estate, and

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